Simone Rocha / Fall 2013 RTW

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It was a family affair at Simone Rocha’s show. Her father, the Hong Kong–born designer John Rocha, was sitting in the front row with her Irish mother, Odette, who works with Simone on sales and the sourcing of her fabrics. Her brother Max Rocha was in charge of music. And Simone’s collection was all about her two grannies, Margaret Gleeson on the Irish side and Cecelia Rocha on the Chinese side. She called it “Respect Your Elders.”

All that might make Simone Rocha sound like a bit of a spoiled goody-two-shoes, but that idea could be instantly dispelled by looking at her shoes—stompingly inspired loafers, lace-ups, and, this season, granny slippers, all grounded in her signature chunky Lucite heels. What she does has immense charm and freshness, but this girl’s no princess.

She’s been through the two-year boot camp that is professor Louise Wilson’s Central Saint Martins M.A. course, from which student designers do not escape without knowing that their work must be original, about themselves, technically impeccable, and, ideally, a commercial success.

So this collection, charmingly but not cloyingly, was about Simone’s affection for her grandmothers, and her slightly child’s-eye view of going to family gatherings, church, weddings, and funerals in Ireland and Hong Kong—hence the half-veiled hats and velvet-bow Alice bands. Irish granny, she said, “was all about a trouser,” whereas Hong Kong granny “was the fake fur, and all kinds of synthetics.” She didn’t mention who wore the spectacles, but there they were, eccentrically hand-crocheted around upswept frames.

This talent for minimal yet characterful accessories shapes a delightfully coherent collection that strikes a great balance between fun and wearability. Rocha used Pepto Bismol–pink (a very London color this season) to make vivid princess coats, dresses, and short skirts with a bouncy, bustle-ly half-peplum at the back—all in sporty synthetic mesh. The fake-fur granny’s influence was exerted in leopard-spot coats, pencil skirts, and paired with shirt collars, and in lime-tinted fluffy suiting. At its heart, the collection’s silhouette was pretty simple, easy to understand, and completely translatable into real-life situations. No wonder she’s being picked up by retailers like Dover Street Market and others as a rising star with a story that sells.